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Khori Gaon rehab scheme: SC cautions over pseudo allottees
Faridabad municipality said there has been a rush to apply for eligibility documents for housing under the rehabilitation scheme after it was notified last month
The Supreme Court on Monday told the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) to ensure that only Khori Gaon residents, evicted from Aravalli forest, are rehabilitated under a Haryana government scheme and imposters are not allowed to buy out the accommodation from genuine allottees
A bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said, “We know that in rehabilitation schemes, in general, the genuine people encash the benefit provided to them and go and encroach somewhere else while pseudo persons come forward to take the benefit.”
The court observed while recounting a similar matter dealt with by the Madhya Pradesh high court. “Public property and assets get compromised and the public exchequer affected in the process.”
The court made the observations after the municipality submitted details of the alternative housing scheme Haryana government has prepared for residents of the demolished Khori Gaon homes in Lakkarpur village. Of the 2,416 applications received till September 19, only 899 were found eligible as the remaining either had no document to prove they were from Khori Gaon or were persons residing outside Faridabad.
Senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj, representing the MCF, said, “After we notified the scheme last month, there has been a rush of people applying for documents that will make them eligible for housing under the rehabilitation scheme.”
The state government scheme proposes to house the residents of Khori Gaon at the economically weaker section (EWS) flats at Bapu Nagar and Dabua Colony in Faridabad. To be eligible, residents need to show either a Pariwar Pehchan Patra (PPP) of an adult member of the house, an election ID card of Badkhal constituency, or an electricity connection bill of their premises at Khori Gaon.
Bhardwaj said, “Only 899 persons out of 2,416 applications have been found to be eligible. The remaining failed to supply even one of the documents listed above. Some persons from adjoining Delhi have also been found to have applied under our scheme.”
The bench asked MCF to consider if additional documents, such as Aadhaar Card, could be considered for deciding the eligibility and file an affidavit by Monday on whether an amount of ₹17,000, to be paid upfront by eligible persons, could be reduced.
Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, who was appearing for some of the evicted residents, had cited the example of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna (PMAY) where Aadhaar is an acceptable document of proof for establishing eligibility.
Parikh said that nearly half of the residents in Khori Gaon had one of the documents but many lost it at the time of demolition and others have applied for the same. He stated that evacuees can’t deposit ₹17,000, the first instalment of the ₹3.77 lakh, which is payable for the EWS accommodation over a period of 15 years. Parikh enquired if ₹10,000 could be paid initially, with the remaining amount payable in the next 20 years. The court sought the views of the MCF on this suggestion.
Unlike PMAY, which provides housing for the homeless, this was a rehabilitation scheme for persons dispossessed of their houses, the bench said. The bench had an interaction with MCF commissioner Yashpal Yadav during the proceedings to know if Khori Gaon properties are numbered.
“We carried out a drone survey but have not conducted a physical survey of the area,” the commissioner said, adding, “The structure numbers are given.”
Bhardwaj later clarified that structure numbers were privately assigned by residents and not the corporation.
If the Aadhaar card is to be relied upon as a document of proof to establish residence in Khori Gaon, the bench said then it should mention the exact premises along with an undertaking that there won’t be multiple applicants for one premise.
The bench also reminded the MCF that on October 4, the next date of hearing, it required the chart showing area wise action taken report against unauthorised properties in the forest area. On February 19, 2021, the court directed Aravalli forest land to be cleared of encroachments following which action was taken against 6,600 Khori Gaon structures, clearing 150 acres of Aravalli forest. Besides, 140 properties, including farmhouses, were issued show cause notices but only 10 were demolished. The court on September 20 directed the MCF to provide details of action taken against properties situated in the forest and reasons for not acting against them.
